Syosset High student Kyle Montagni creates outdoor amphitheater at Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery & Aquarium
Kyle Montagni, a senior at Syosset High School. Credit: Patricia Montagni
A Syosset High School student has created an outdoor amphitheater to help educate children at the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery & Aquarium.
Kyle Montagni, a senior, recently spearheaded the construction of nine cedar benches and a demonstration table to assist in the aquarium’s lessons about local freshwater ecosystems. He was inspired to give back to the aquarium after having visited the facility throughout his childhood.
Montagni, a Boy Scout, pursued the project as part of his Gold Award, which is the highest achievement attainable within the Boy Scouts of America. He is a member of Troop 205.
“I’ve been to the fish hatchery my whole life and I’m also someone that’s big into fishing, and I felt like it was a great way to give back to a place that was very close to my heart for a long time,” Montagni said.
To fund the project, Montagni said he collected approximately $3,000 in donations from family and friends through Venmo as well as through the fundraising platform Boon Supply. He purchased the wood at Lowe’s and received help building the benches from carpenters he met through his connections in the Boy Scouts, he said.
Montagni, 18, has also been a member of his school’s varsity football team and National Honor Society and will be a camp counselor this summer at Syosset-Woodbury Community Park. He was one of 21 students selected last year to serve on the Boy Scouts of America’s inaugural Youth Council.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
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